It drives me crazy when I go to a restaurant and the cashier or server does not have a good understanding of the menu. It irks me when they have to look for a cheat sheet or ask another co-worker/manager. At Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q, we make sure all our co-workers know the menu so they can better serve our customers by being customer advocates. We want to empower our co-workers so they make decisions in our customer’s best interest.

Here’s an example: We offer a Value Pack on our menu- a Bar-B-Q sandwich, fries and a drink. If the customer orders a Bar-B-Q sandwich, hushpuppies and a drink, we could easily charge them for exactly what they asked for and ring up each item separately. Instead, we train our co-workers to do what is best for our customers and therefore suggest the following: “We have a Value Pack-sandwich, FF and drink. How about I ring you up for that and substitute the hushpuppies for fries? That will save you a little money!”

Sure, we technically lost money on that transaction but our philosophy is we gained goodwill with that customer. We believe that investment of goodwill is going to yield a better return than any single transaction. We want to give our customers the best possible deal so they will visit us again. Notice how we explain  how we ring up the order. We want to “train” our customers so they know what to ask for again next time.

Being a customer advocate is critical , particularly in this current economic climate. Our company’s success is due to that fact that everything is done in the best interest of our customers. A new menu item or an advertising campaign can never replace a team of customer advocates!

-Richard Averitte, Marketing Director